My Beth
by Velvet Storm
Summary: My version of what should have happened between Jack and Elizabeth on "that godforsaken spit of land"...just had to get it out of my system...


A short story about what should have happened on "that godforsaken spit of land"….

Elizabeth was furious; well scared and furious. She had hated Barbossa and his crew from the minute she set foot on the Pearl. Now she hated them even more for throwing her off the ship, deserting her with Jack and for keeping her beloved Wil. Surely they would kill him. What would she do? How could she go on? He was her love and without him would be forced to marry James.

"Where are you going?" she asked Jack who seemed to have his mind set on a particular location somewhere towards the center of the island.

"I'm finding a way to deal with this…situation I find meself in," he replied, not looking back, waving his hands in the air.

She ran after him to find him taking very large, unnatural steps, as if counting paces. Watching in silence, he then found the spot he'd been searching for, jumped up and down to make sure, then reached through the sand for the metal handle. "Here we go," he said to himself as pounds of sand slid from the wooden door. Jack descended the steps to return with bottles.

"Welcome to the Caribbean," he said with a fake smile, thrusting a bottle into her hands. "Drink's on me."

This man would drive her mad yet. "What?" she exclaimed as he staggered past her, headed towards the shoreline. "Aren't we going to find a way off this island? Can't we do what you did last time?"

Jack quickly opened up his bottle of rum. "Doubt it, Missy," he snapped. "I bartered me way onto a ship that used the island for storing cargo." Rubbing a thick layer of dust and dirt off the bottle with his thumb, he continued, "But unfortunately it doesn't look like they've been by here in quite a while."

"So we're just supposed to drink? Is that it?" she asked sarcastically, wanting to smash her bottle to the ground. "If we get drunk, we won't care that we're stranded and could die?"

He glanced up at her, squinting his dark lined eyes. "Aye love," he said simply before taking a long swig of rum.

Elizabeth let out a high-pitched cry of frustration and anger before taking off for a walk. She'd scout the island to see what she could find. There had to a way to get someone to see them. This was preposterous!

As she walked, she remembered the bottle in her hand. What was it about this drink that Jack found so addictive? She tossed the cork aside and sipped, holding the flavor in her mouth for a moment. Sweet and spicy, not too bad actually. Well it was better than seawater at the moment.

She continued to walk, searching, looking for something; anything that she could use. _sip_ To think she used to believe that meeting a pirate would be exciting, a grand adventure. _sip_ And now, the man she'd loved for so long turned out to be a pirate's son and she was stranded with another one that tried her patience to an extreme. _sip_ She found nothing exciting about any of it and was more frustrated than anything. _sip_

No sign of any wood. _Damn_, she thought. _sip _And it rained recently so everything was somewhat damp. _Damn again_, she thought. _sip_ There has to be something. She knew the Navy was searching for her. _sip_ There had to be some way to signal them to where she was. _sip_

Elizabeth noticed her legs felt shaky. _Interesting_, she thought. _sip I've never felt that before_. She noticed her whole body felt a little lighter as she walked. She almost wanted to dance. _sip_ _Is this from the rum_, she thought. _I almost like it_.

Anger slipped from her like a vague memory as she drank the rum. Her view of the situation she was in began to change slightly as she allowed her mind to wander over the past few days. Although Jack was a pirate, he did save her life. She should be grateful to him for that if nothing else. He could have let her drown. Obviously there was no one else who would have done it. And even though she'd despised him, when he'd requested she put his hat and effects on him, she did like it, sort of.

_Oh what is wrong with me_, she thought to herself, kicking sand and finding herself slightly off balance, fighting to steady her steps. _I should not like anything about Jack_, she tried to convince herself. But there was a small voice deeper inside her that said she did and almost hated herself for it. Two more steps and her foot caught on something sharp, causing her knee to buckle and her to fall.

"Ouch," she huffed, grabbing for her foot. "Dammit!" Noticing red sand, she knew she was bleeding. Great, just what she needed. Standing up, she limped her way back to where she'd left Jack, still sipping her rum.

"What the bloody hell happened to you?" he asked when he saw her approaching, favoring her right leg.

"Caught my foot on something sharp," she answered, hand on her hip. "Why do you care?"

Jack stared at Elizabeth for a moment before standing up, taking a moment to steady himself. "Got to wash out the wound," he told her. "Salt water first and then rum. Will kill any infections." He started walking towards the ocean.

Elizabeth watched him for a moment before deciding to follow him not able to argue with what he'd said.

"Hold on to me," he instructed as he took her foot and cupped water to rinse off the blood and sand. "Last thing we need is an infection, aye?" When he finished, he immediately picked her up, ignoring her pleas to put her down. "It would be pointless to clean ye off and then dirty it up again."

And again she couldn't argue.

He placed her down on the sand, much more gentle than she anticipated, then ripped off part of his bandana. Kneeling in front of her, he instructed, "Give me ye foot." She held it up while he poured a little rum over the wound and then tied the material around it tight so no sand would get back in. "There," he finished. "Shouldn't have any problems. Ye just need to stay out of the water for a bit, aye?"

He sat down beside her as she said quietly, "Thank you."

Grabbing his rum bottle, he turned towards her, dark eyes almost accusing. "Not so bad am I?" he said as if hurt with her assumption he was.

Head spinning slightly, guilt crashed into her as waves crashed into the shoreline. Saying she was sorry didn't seem enough. He'd helped her again. _sip_

Moments of uneasy silence passed between them, each looking the opposite direction from the other, both drinking their rum, looking forward to the time when it would help them not care about where they were.

The sun had moved down in the sky a bit before either spoke.

"So ye love him," Jack said in more of a confirmation than a question.

Not turning to look at him but surprised at his statement, Elizabeth said, "I do."

More silence passed as the warm glow of the expanding sunset began to shine in front of them.

"Must be nice," he said with no emotion, drinking more rum. His bottle was almost finished but had fetched another.

His statement made Elizabeth turn to face him. "Are you saying Captain Jack Sparrow has never loved?" she asked, feeling much better now that over half her rum was gone. _sip_ When his eyes met hers the sadness she saw made her feel bad for the tone she'd used in her question.

"Nay, the other way around," he told her, taking another swig.

Realizing what he'd meant, Elizabeth said, "I don't believe it. I'm sure there have been women quite smitten with you." She could only imagine how charming he could be if he put his mind to it. _sip_

Looking away and shaking his head, Jack said, "Sorry, Miss Swann. Nothing lovable about 'ol Jack here." He leaned back on his elbows, staring out into the ocean. Why should anyone love him? He could never give his love to a woman, not proper like anyway. So why should they give theirs to him?

Lowering her voice, she said, "Please call me Elizabeth….Jack."

When she looked back at him, he smirked. "Elizabeth," he corrected with a nod of his head.

"I'm sure there's been many women who…"

"Oh there's been many women, aye," he said with a snicker.

Lightly hitting his thigh, she said, "That's not what I meant. I'm sure there's been quite a few who cared for you. They probably just couldn't tell you."

"Why couldn't they?"

"Really Jack," she said. "All your drinking? Your obsessive need for the Pearl? The fact you're a pirate?" _sip_

What was it with this lass? He knew she was right on all accounts. He wasn't exactly the most approachable man and played that to his favor.

"You know what I think?" she continued. "I think you push them away. I don't think you want anyone too close. I think it scares you."

With that, Jack sat straight up, wishing the world hadn't spun when he did. "I'm not scared of anything, savvy?"

Lifting her eyebrows, she said, "That certainly got your attention."

He sighed heavily, drinking more rum. Of all people to get stranded with, it had to be a woman who was beautiful _and_ sassy. Barbossa would pay. "So are ye going to play mental games with me all night?"

Elizabeth looked down at the sand beside her, picking a small shell to play with. "I wasn't trying to be difficult," she told him quietly. "I just wanted to talk. I'm scared, Jack." She was surprised when his hand reached for hers and looked up to find much gentler brown eyes gazing at her.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, realizing how odd that sounded coming from his lips. "This is very…difficult for me." He forced a small smile. "Would be much easier if ye were a hundred pounds heavier with buck teeth."

They shared a laugh. The rum had finally caught up.

"So are you going to hold my hand all night?" she teased, eyes sparkling. The inner voice that was once quiet was now controlling her.

Jack smiled and leaned closer to her. "At the very least, Love." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the top of it. Her ivory skin was so soft, he could imagine what the rest of her was like, feeling a warning twitch in his breeches.

"I have a confession," he told her.

"You're not a eunuch are you?" she teased, raising one eyebrow.

He smiled. "I'm jealous of Wil." Did he just say that out loud? Damn thing about rum; it had always loosened him up.

"You're what?" Had he just said what she thought he said?

He sighed. "Please don't make me repeat it."

"You're jealous of Wil?"

"Aye."

The beautiful golden sun was setting in the ocean before them, making his tanned skin glow more than usual. She could see the glare in his dark eyes and immediately felt a longing within her, the same longing she felt for Wil. "I am jealous also," she said without thinking.

Jack looked confused. "Of Wil?"

She laughed slightly. "No, Jack," she said. "Of all the women who have…been with you."

He was caressing her hand still. "But they've been wenches and women of the night," he told her, quite surprised at her statement. It didn't seem real.

"I know," she told him, looking down at his rough brown hands caressing her soft ivory one. "I don't know. I can't help it. There's just…"

When she didn't continue, Jack prompted her, "Just what, Love?"

"Just something about you," she finished quietly. _sip_

"Have you never…" he trailed off. Her look quickly told him no. "The honeymoon thing aye?" He never did understand that.

"I don't want to wait," she told him. "I've wanted to do it for a long time now. I was going to with Wil and then everything happened." Her eyes met his in a silent question.

It took Jack a moment to fully understand what her look meant. "Love…Elizabeth…we can't do that…I mean ye haven't…and this would be ye first…and this isn't the proper setting…and…"

"How old were you?"

"My first?" She nodded. "I was eleven." Her eyes said to continue. "It was in Tortuga…or was it…anyway we were in a dark deserted alley on an old feather mattress someone had thrown out. She was ten I think."

"I don't want to die without that experience, Jack."

"And I don't want that to be the only reason you're doing it, Elizabeth."

Both were quiet with their own thoughts.

_I can understand his point, _she told herself_. But I am attracted to him. Genuinely. Even if I didn't want to admit it earlier. And should we get off the island, no one need know. It would be a special moment. Whether I have another one is irrelevant. I want this one. _

_I shouldn't have allowed this conversation, _he thought._ I should have stopped it long ago. Damn rum. Damn twitching. I'd love nothing more than to be with her. I could make her first time wonderful. But what happens when we get off the island? Then she'll hate me since I will have taken from her what she wanted to give to Wil. _

He let go of her hand and laid back onto the sand. _Think of Norrington_, he told himself. _That will take care of the twitching._ That worked well until Elizabeth laid down beside him, her head on his chest. Thoughts of Norrington disappeared quickly.

He wouldn't touch her but she didn't care. She could hear his heart pounding and knew he was fighting it when he didn't need to. "Jack," she whispered, her hand resting on his stomach, hearing him breathe deeply. She began lightly dancing her fingers over his body, his chest and stomach, down his hips and thighs and back up. She could hear short gasps of breath and knew he wanted her. She began tugging his shirt out of his breeches, also trying to untie them.

Jack could handle no more. He was hard as a rock and couldn't control himself any longer. He flipped her over to her back, hovering above her, holding her hands away from him. "Elizabeth," he growled. "Ye cannot regret this."

Smiling up at him, she answered, "I won't." Knowing what he needed to hear, she added, "I promise."

Dark eyes gazed down at her as shadows began to surround them. He placed her hands above her head, gently pressing down as his lips crashed down to hers. She whimpered slightly but was soon silent, as she tasted the warmth, the rum, and the sea air that had dried on his lips. His kiss was wonderful; wet and powerful and commanding. When he let go of her hands, they worked on loosening his shirt and pants while his lips kissed and nibbled their way down her neck and collarbone. She paused, heart pounding, as he unlaced her bodice, revealing the small mounds of flesh he wanted, causing her to moan softly when he licked her hardened nipple. Gently squeezing, he spent equal time on both, hardening more as he heard her moan and felt her wiggle underneath him. His lips crushed hers again in a wet feverish state, body pressing against hers, wanting to feel every inch of her, wishing they could be naked but knowing they could not with the sand. He slipped one hand down to lift up the material for access, hardly able to wait to pleasure her. Their kiss broke a few times as he worked on her knickers, pushing them down and off, thrown over in the sand somewhere. She opened her legs when she felt his fingers playing.

This was the one thing he prided himself on. He adjusted his body so he wouldn't press on her uncomfortably and went to work. His index and ring finger spread her while his middle finger flicked the small nub back and forth, round and round. Elizabeth whimpered and moaned while her entire body began to tighten. He smiled, watching her squeeze her eyes shut, biting her lip. It was only a couple minutes before she was crying out, bucking her hips against his hands, turning her head from side to side, completely controlled by his pleasuring of her.

Her chest was heaving as her body slowed. "Jack," she breathed, gripping his arm. "Oh my god. Where did you…how did you…"

He grinned. "Don't ask, Love," he said gently, kissing her lips lightly.

When he began to release his pulsing hardness, she said, "Wait. I want to touch you first." Pushing his pants down his legs, he leaned back on his arm, allowing her access. Still catching her breath, she touched his chest, ran a finger across his small pebbled nipples, and then followed the small trail of curly hair until she lightly touched his hardness. She'd wondered about such things, sliding her hand up and down. He was stiff but so soft.

He allowed her all the time he could. "Love, I can't wait much longer," he whispered, reaching for her hand.

Her eyes met his as she said, "Then don't."

Her chest still heaving, the look of unbridled desire in her eyes, Jack wondered how he wasn't spent already. "Elizabeth," he growled, his body and lips crashing against her again, pushing her down to the sand, his legs spreading hers as her body wrapped around his. He prodded gently, finding the desired wetness, lifting his head to meet her eyes with his. Part of him couldn't believe they were doing this and another part thought it felt like the most natural thing on Earth.

She felt him sliding into her, ever so slowly, trying to be as gentle as he could. There wasn't much pain as he filled her completely, causing her to let out a moan that had been stifled for years. Their foreheads touched in ecstasy. He began pulsing his hips into her slowly at first and then picked up speed as his desire began to control him. Both held on, kissing, moaning, squeezing, not able to get enough of anything. Elizabeth briefly watched the look of pleasure and determination on Jack's face and thought it beautiful. Her thoughts were interrupted by his release, his last few hard thrusts into her and his exclamation that seemed to echo in the emptiness around them.

His head fell to her chest as he panted heavily. She cradled him in her arms as they laid in silence. She'd never been happier in her life. There was no way she would ever regret this with Jack, regardless of what happened with Wil.

Wil. He hadn't crossed her mind in quite a while.

Jack lifted his head up, leaning forward to gently kiss her red lips. "Beth," he breathed. "Usually it's longer…usually I can…"

"Shut up, Captain Sparrow," she whispered with affection, liking his new nickname for her. "Don't think this is it. The night is young."

When darkness covered them, they built a fire and searched for some kind of food, finding a mango tree nearby, eating their fill. They drank more rum until they were happy and drunk, dancing and singing the song Elizabeth had taught Jack.

They'd taken each other a couple more times through the night, each time as wonderful as the first. She was amazed with his talents, causing her to almost wish she could stay with him. He was infuriating and intoxicating all at the same time. But she knew they had to get off the island. They couldn't stay.

Once he'd passed out, she took his gun and headed for the center of the island, pulling what dried pieces of wood and trees and leaves she could find, pouring rum on them and shooting Jack's gun to ignite the fire. She descended the steps to find crates and began throwing them onto the fire. Hopefully it would be high enough for the Navy to see and they could be rescued. She noticed she wasn't as happy about it as she thought she'd be.

"What are ye doing?" Jack screamed at her when he'd stumbled his way to her attempt at being rescued.

"Getting us help," she told him. "We can't stay here forever."

"You burned the rum," he stammered. "Why did ye burn the rum?"

"To stoke the fire," she explained.

"But the rum is gone," he continued, as if not hearing her. "Why is the rum gone?"

"We can get more rum after we're found," she told him as he stormed off.

They sat on the beach in silence, seeing the Dauntless approaching. They knew a rowboat would soon reach the shore and they would be taken back.

"Ye had this planned all along," he accused her.

"Aye Jack."

"Ye could have done this when we got here instead of waiting till morning," he told her.

"Aye."

"Why did ye wait?"

She reached for his hand. "You."

"Me?"

"And I'm very glad I did," she said, leaning over to kiss the lips she couldn't imagine not kissing every day. "I might have some thinking to do."

Jack saw her grin and allowed himself to smile then, wondering what would become of the intensity they'd shared. "Aye, my love," he said. "My Beth."


End file.
